Cheese Tortellini Frittata

I have found another way to use some of the Basil Vinaigrette that I had made for the Wheatberry Salad. Wanting to use some cheese tortellini I had in the fridge, but also wanting to have eggs for dinner lead me to Google search pasta and egg dishes. Beyond carbonara, I really didn't know what ideas would be out there. I started to come across a lot of casserole or frittata type ideas. A frittata with cheese tortellini felt like the perfect idea. Adding some Basil Vinaigrette to the mix didn't seem like a bad idea either.

Cheese Tortellini Frittata
Serves 2

1 cup cheese tortellini
2 eggs
2 egg whites
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup chopped spinach
2 tbsp Basil Vinaigrette
crumbled feta cheese

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions. Do not overcook.
2. Beat together eggs, egg whites, milk, chopped spinach, and basil vinaigrette.
3. Mix egg mixture with tortellini and pour into a greased oven-safe shallow dish (the thinner the frittata the easier it is to cook). Sprinkle with crumbed feta cheese.
4. Bake covered with foil at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and allow the top to set (another 10 minutes or so).

For anyone who doubts tortellini with eggs, I recommend you make this because it will settle all your doubts. So easy to make, and would make a great addition to any breakfast/brunch or even dinner menu.

Earlier in the week there was a bake sale at a charity hockey game through school. My housemates and I each baked a lot of goodies, which resulted in a near 3 foot stack of cookie filled containers. I gave up sweets for Lent, so baking 4 batches of cookies last Sunday was no easy task. It took me about 5.5 hours in total, and using my Mom's kitchen (bigger than my own), kitchen aid mixer (much faster than my own hands), and cookie sheets (more numerous and much more clean than mine) helped tremendously.

Here are some pictures of the fruits of my labour:

Butterscotch Peanut Butter Corn Flake Clusters

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cranberry Peanut White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I also made lemon icebox cookies but I forgot to take a picture of them. They were ugly anyway.

All the recipes are from Cookie Jar Classics by Company's Coming.

There was an overload of baked goods for sale made by many of the Grad students. Everyone made such delicious looking treats!

 

There were a lot of leftovers and a few are kicking around the house here. I have a container of cookies in the freezer waiting for me when Lent is over.

Wheatberry Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

I hate to post another salad recipe with it still being in the negatives outside and it not feeling like spring or summer at all, but I am really excited to share this one. It is the dressing which is the exciting part, really. I went to a Birthday party on the weekend and was bringing along a side dish. I decided to make a wheatberry salad and wanted to have a dressing that resembled pesto, or had a lot of basil in it. After a failed attempt of making my own pesto based dressing, I found a recipe on Farm Fresh Living, a website I hadn't come across until recently. With the success of this salad dressing recipe, I may just have to try out more of their recipes.

Wheatberry Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
serves 8-10 as a side

4 cups cooked wheatberries
1 cup thawed edamame
1 can no salt added corn
2 cups fresh chopped spinach
feta cheese, crumbled (I used about half of purchased container - use as much or as little as you'd like)

Dressing (makes double what you need): slightly adapted from Farm Fresh Living
1/2 large shallot finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
juice from 1 fresh lemon
1/2 large tomato, diced
6 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine all the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Combine all dressing ingredients except olive oil into a food processor (or magic bullet like I did) and blend.
3. Add olive oil as a stream while processing (or add in 2 batches in the magic bullet).
4. Mix half of the dressing just before serving, add crumbled feta, and mix in.

I loved the salad and I THINK it may have won over even the toughest critics at the party. The guests at the party ranged from 'foodie' to 'open-minded' to 'an animal must die at every meal' to 'what is a vegetable?'. So while it was pretty brave for me bringing a wheatberry salad to this party, I am glad I did.

I REALLY liked this dressing. I sort of doubled the recipe that I had found, so I had a lot of extra dressing in the end. I am sure glad I did though because I used it in an amazing salad that I made for lunch today. The salad was spinach based, with some toppings: 1/2 cup wheatberries, 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, 1 green onion chopped, crumbled feta. The dressing was wonderful on this salad. I am usually a 'make a bit of dressing as you need it directly onto the salad' kinda girl, but this recipe has converted me. I can now see myself making up some of this dressing to use throughout the week in the near future.